Steam-generator.



film/778,886. PATENTED JAN. 3. 1905.

L. J. H. PAGELS.

STEAM GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Q.

Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT Orricn.

LOUIS JOHN HENRY PAGELS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STEAM-GENERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,886, dated January3, 1905.

Application filed March 18, 1904. Serial No. 198,793.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs JOHN HENRY PAGELS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSteam-Generators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for producing steam, and hasparticular reference to their adaptation for heating purposes inflatbuildings, office-buildings, and the like; and the object of theinvention is to effect a great saving in fuel, shorten the time usuallyrequired to get up a good head of steam, reduce the cost ofconstruction, simplify the arrangement of parts, facilitate repairs andeasy accessibility to the difierent parts of the apparatus, &:c., aswill hereinafter appear in the detailed description.

The invention consists, generally speaking, in a series of water-tubes,a supply-reservoir therefor, in combination with a furnace, and meansfor substantially enveloping said tubes with flame and gases ofcombustion of said furnace.

The invention further consists in a novel arrangement of parts and thedetails of construction hereinafter more fully described, illustrated inthe drawings, and incorporated in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional View taken on the line XX ofFig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an apparatusembodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating a transversesection through a modified form of my device.

In the drawings, 2 represents an ordinary boiler-furnace with adraft-door 3 and firedoor 4, which are shown connected with a commonform of automatic arrangement for regulating the heat of the furnace bythe steam-pressure and comprising achain 5, pass-,

ing over pulley 6, the lever 7, fulcrumed near pressure-piston 8, theweights 9, &c., all wellknown construction.

Supported in the front and rear walls and 11, respectively, is a seriesof water-pipes 12, arranged in zigzag order, as shown in Fig. 1, tobetter expose them to the flames and gases of combustion. Over the toplayer of pipes composing the series is a fire-brick lining orfurnace-top 13, which terminates a suit-able distance from the rear wall11 to provide a flue-opening 14. Above the top of the lining or roof offire-chamber 13 is a supply-reservoir 15, also built into the brickwork.The rear end of this reservoir or boiler 15 is shown slightly lower thanthe forward end, the object of which is to facilitate its drainage andto provide a steam space of greatest depth forward above the water-line16. The rear end of the reservoir 15 is provided with an inletwater-supply pipe 17, connected with any suitable source, and anoutlet-pipe 18, connected with the series of pipes 12 and provided witha header 19. The forward end of the reservoir is provided with a similarsteam-inlet pipe and a header connected with the opposite end of theseries of pipes 12. A pipe 22 leads from the steamchamber of thereservoir to the radiators of the building or whatever thesteam-consuming device is supplied.

23 is the flue communicating with the firechamber through an archedpassage 24, bridging the side Walls 25 and 26 of the furnace.

27 is the usual water-gage and its pipe communicating with the interiorof the reservoir 15.

As will be observed from the foregoing de scription, the water-tubes 12are each completely enveloped by the flames and hot gases of combustionand their exposure increased materially by the staggered or zigzagarrangement of the different layers overlying each other in the series.Furthermore, the Watertubes being within the furnace itself are exposedto a far greater intensity of heat than if they merely formed fluesbeginning at one end of the furnace. The volume of hot gases and flamessurrounding each flue is practically that of the furnace itself.

In Fig. 3 a double arrangement is shown wherein two reservoirs, a doubleset of tubes, and steam and water inlet and discharge pipes common toboth reservoirs and to the double system of pipes are shown. In Fig. 2the inlet-pipe 17 for the water-supply is shown by dotted lines asextending to the front part of the boiler or reservoir, whereby the coldwater is heated by the hot water surrounding said pipe within thereservoir.

In practical operation for heating purposes the reservoir 15 is filledwith water in the morning up to the water-line 16 and the valve 17closed. The discharge end of the pipe 20 is then above the water-lineand-the tubes 12 will be filled with water. The reservoir is preferablymade of sufficient size to hold a days supply of water. When the fireisstarted, steam will be very quickly generated, which will issue into thesteam-space above the water-line in the reservoir and thence through thepipe 22 as fast as it is permitted to escape by the users. At night whenthe fire is permitted to get low, as is customary, the reservoir may berecharged through the inlet-pipe 17, the steam-pressure then not beingsufficient to prevent a gravity-flow into the boiler. It is of courseobvious that, if desired, any common form of injector may also be usedand the boiler charged at any time regardless of the amount ofsteam-pressure within the reservoir.

It has been found by actual demonstration in practical use of myapparatus that steam may be generated with about half the fuel usuallyrequired for the same amount of steampressure obtained with the ordinaryboilers, and with a corresponding saving of time required to generatethe necessary amount of steam to make the rooms of a buildingcomfortable during cold weather. The watertubes being below thewater-reservoir cannot become dry so long as there is any water at allin the reservoir and do not, therefore, burn out in part, as where someof the tubes are left high and dry when the water gets low at times, asis almost inevitable in connection with ordinary boilers. Furthermore,the arrangement is a comparatively inexpensive one, as the tubes arecompletely exposed and can easily be replaced at any time withoutnecessitating a new boiler, while the reservoir 15 is protected againstthe intensest heat by the lining 13. Viewing the apparatus as a boilerwith its tubes exterior of its body it will be noted that about half theboiler-space is saved, permitting the use of a far less expensive boilerwithout any sacrifice of efficiency. Again, the difference in first costand repairs between my series of pipes arranged as shown and securedwithin the boiler is so great as to be scarcely comparable, while thelatter requires the highest skilled labor and the former, or myinvention, can be assembled by any ordinary mechanic. This isexceedingly important in connection with boilers or steamgeneratingapparatuses used for dwellings where the employment of skilled engineersis out of the question.

It is obvious that the embodiment of my invention may be modified innumerous ways without departing from the spirit thereof, and I thereforedo not wish to'confine my invention to the specific construction hereinshown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desireto secureby Letters Patent- In a steam-generator, the combination with a furnace,of a cylindrical reservoir and steamchamber having its ends embedded inand supported by the front and rear walls of said furnace, saidreservoir being rearwardly inclined, several exposed horizontal seriesof connected water-tubes arranged immediately below said reservoir, saidtubes having their joints supported in said walls, a horizontalpartition between said tubes and reservoir providing a flue of graduallyincreasing capacity toward its forward end, a water-supply pipe betweenthe lower end of said reservoir and the lower series of tubes, asteamsupply pipe between the upper series of tubes and the elevated endof said reservoir, and means for admitting water to and dischargingsteam from said reservoir.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses, this 14th day of March, 1904.

LOUIS JOHN HENRY PAGELS. Witnesses: 1

ROBERT BORGHART, EDWARD RICHARDSON.

